07/04/2009 - Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Korea's Eunjung Yi fired a 10-under 61 and took the third-round lead Saturday at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Yi holed out from the fairway for an eagle at No. 10 and collected eight birdies in a flawless round, carding her best score on tour by five shots.
The 21-year-old Korean moved to 18-under 195 and will carry a four-shot lead over Song-Hee Kim (64) and Morgan Pressel (67) into the final round.
Amazingly, Yi's 61 was not a course record on the par-71 Highland Meadows layout. Paula Creamer, who withdrew on Thursday, fired a 60 in the first round last year on the way to winning the tournament.
Annika Sorenstam has the only 59 in LPGA Tour history, a mark Yi could have matched if she holed her final approach shot Saturday into the 18th green for eagle.
Instead, Yi knocked it to four feet. She missed the birdie putt -- it curled around the left side of the cup -- and a chance to tie Creamer's mark of 60.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< Mike Smith back on Mine That Bird
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eclipse Award winning jockey Mike Smith has
regained the mount on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. Smith has a two-
race commitment to ride the gelding starting with the West Virginia Derby on
Saturda
<< Callaspo and KC snap ChiSox winning streak
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Callaspo went 2-for-3 and hit the
go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, as the Kansas City Royals came
back to top the White Sox, 6-4, and snap Chicago's seven-game win streak.
Callaspo
<< Woodward's ninth-inning hit sends M's past Sox
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Woodward knocked in the deciding run in
the ninth inning as Seattle clipped Boston, 3-2, in the middle
contest of three at Fenway Park.
Russell Branyan added a pair of RBI for the M
<< Owings homers, pitches Reds over Cardinals
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Micah Owings tossed 6 2/3 strong innings
and hit his third home run of the year, lifting Cincinnati to a 5-2 victory
against St. Louis in the second of three games between these NL Central
rivals.
Nationals recall Bergmann; designate Colome for assignment >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals recalled
right-hander Jason Bergmann from Triple-A Syracuse and designated reliever
Jesus Colome for assignment following Saturday's 5-3 win over the Braves.
Bergmann
Briscoe takes Watkins Glen pole for second straight year >>
Watkins Glen, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Briscoe won the pole at Watkins Glen
International for the second year in a row after dominating Saturday's
qualifying for the Camping World GP at the Glen.
Briscoe posted a new track reco
Woods, Kim share AT&T National lead >>
Bethesda, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods managed just an even-par 70
Saturday and will head into the final round at the AT&T National tied for the
lead with Anthony Kim.
Kim, the defending champion, shot a two-under 68 in the third ro
Posada's RBI single in 12th helps Yanks down Jays >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jorge Posada's single in the bottom of the 12th
inning lifted the New York Yankees to a 6-5 win over Toronto in the second of
a four-game set from Yankee Stadium.
Posada also hit a homer and finished with two
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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